1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of matching projects and workers. In particular, the invention relates to a web enabled system for matching projects and workers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Matching is a difficult process because it requires that a computer, or human, identify combinations that will work well. Because of the complexity of the problem, most prior systems do not attempt to actually perform any matching, but rather they provide a forum in which parties can meet.
Traditionally newspaper classified ads were one way of brining parties together, e.g. buyers and sellers, employers and employees, etc. More recently, online systems such as bulletin boards, newsgroups, web classifieds, and even online auctions have provided for parties to meet.
All of these rely on the parties to make matches. No centralized attempt is made to match parties. For example, Jane Doe might post a want to buy classified ad while Jim Brown might post a for sale classified ad, both for a Toyota Camry. Unless Jane sees Jim""s ad, or vice versa, they will not know of the other""s ad and have an opportunity to complete a transaction. Online systems can offer search functions that can improve the chances that Jane may find Jim""s ad, or vice versa. However, unless Jane, or Jim, uses the search function, they will not know of the other""s ad.
The matching problem is equally prevalent in the employment area. For example, a contractor developing a web site might need a subcontractor to develop artwork for the web site. Finding that subcontractor can be difficult and the global reach of the Internet has greatly broadened the ability to work with geographically dispersed employees.
However, the prevalence of the Internet can also increase business risks. Traditional contracting and employment was done based on reputation, past performance, references, and other qualitative measures. The anonymity allowed by the Internet can make it difficult to ascertain information in an efficient manner. The prior systems that were used to bring buyers and sellers together provide no mechanism for incorporating quantitative measures of performance into the matches.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method for allowing parties to match projects to workers that allows for the inclusion of quantitative measures in the matching.
A method of matching projects and workers using both mandatory, or binary, characteristics and quantitative characteristics is described. The projects and workers have a number of characteristics that are symmetric. For example, the project has an activity characteristic that defines what is to be done and the worker has an activity characteristic describing what she/he wants to do. Project creators and workers can request matching workers and projects, respectively. The matching process itself occurs in two stages. In the first stage, the mandatory characteristics are considered. Only workers, or projects, meeting the mandatory characteristics are selected for further evaluation at the next stage. At the second stage, the quantitative characteristics are evaluated for the workers, or projects. The result is a subset of the total number of workers, or projects, matching the project criterion, or worker needs, ranked based on the quantitative characteristics. The size of the subset can be restricted to show only the top n or the top x% of matching workers, or projects, from the first stage.